Brand-new roller coasters are usually cause for celebration. If you’re a coaster person, then there is rarely anything bigger. And while opinions on a coaster’s quality can certainly vary, usually any negative response waits until the attraction is open. Unfortunately for Cedar Point, the negativity is starting early, as the popular Top Thrill roller coaster, which is set to reopen next month as the redesigned Top Thrill 2, just released its safety guidelines, and fans are taking issue with the fact that the rules will require some riders to spend additional money.
The issue at hand regards “loose articles.” This is anything other than your clothing, including keys, cell phones, or anything you might keep in your pockets. They are not allowed on the ride at all. This isn’t a big deal on its own. Many of the most thrilling roller coasters, especially those which include fast inversions, have this same rule. Anything that’s in your pockets can still fly out, potentially causing damage or injury or at the very least getting lost. The problem is that most attractions that have this rule also have free lockers or storage bins where guests can store their articles until they are off the ride, but Top Thrill 2 will not.
The Problem With Top Thrill 2’s New Policy
Even Cedar Point offers free lockers for their Steel Vengeance coaster, which has the same rules regarding loose articles. Based on what the park says in the safety rules, it sounds like initially it was believed Top Thrill 2 wouldn’t need to be so strict about loose articles, so no lockers were built into the queue. Unfortunately, later testing indicated that a different policy was needed, but it was too late to do anything regarding storage. The guidelines read…
Due to the later revision, the integration of lockers into the queue, similar to those at Steel Vengeance, was not possible. We encourage riders to leave any loose articles with a non-rider. If you wish to rent a locker, they will be near the entrance for a nominal fee
The lack of lockers also impacts potential guest footwear, as riders are not allowed to wear flip-flops or other footwear without a back strap on the ride. But since you can’t stand in the queue barefoot, and don’t have anyplace else you can put your shoes, if you wear flip flops in the park, you can’t ride, period.
What Fans Are Saying About The Cedar Point Policy
Unsurprisingly, people who might have been excited by the returning Top Thrill 2, are a bit less so now. Most of us carry keys and wallets and phones at the very least. If you have a non-rider in your party, that’s fine, but if you don’t, your only choices are apparently “pay money” or “don’t ride.” Neither is necessarily attractive to fans reacting on X...
CEDAR POINT L, EVERYBODY BOOED
While paying extra money to skip lines, like Disney World's Genie+, has become common at basically all theme parks and amusement parks in recent years, we haven’t seen a case of individual rides having additional costs unless it’s a park that still uses ride tickets, and in those cases, entry is usually either free or very cheap. But that’s essentially what we have here since now spending money on lockers is basically required for some unless the existing lockers in the park are made available…
Lockers should be FREE until they’re built
Roller coasters requiring lockers aren’t new. Universal Orlando Resort’s Jurassic World Velocicoaster has them, as does Walt Disney World’s Tron: Lightcycle Run. In those cases, the lockers are part of the queue; everybody walks by them to get to the loading area, and they’re free. While Cedar Point may have explained why Top Thrill 2 doesn‘t have that, their explanation simply isn’t good enough for everybody…
Do better @cedarpoint. This is ridiculous. At least have the lockers by Top Thrill 2 be free - like @UniversalORL offers.
At the same time, Top Thrill 2 isn’t the first-ever roller coaster to have this situation where loose articles aren’t allowed but free lockers aren’t available. As some point out, Six Flags, which recently merged with Cedar Fair, the parent company of Cedar Point, established the same situation in several places. Some of the people responding to the policy think the outrage is overblown because this is normal elsewhere, even if the ultimate point may still be valid…
The reaction to this has been dramatically overblown and a bit silly. But also can we call it Top Thrill 2$ now?
Cedar Point is surely hearing the displeasure. The park was almost certainly expecting it. Unfortunately, for the reasons outlined, it doesn’t appear there’s anything that can be done. Riders will need to simply include locker rentals into their budgets, or bring a friend who doesn’t like roller coasters… to the park that sells itself on the fact that it has 16 roller coasters, more than almost any park in the world.
